The Second Master of the Red Chamber

In the east courtyard, Wang Ziteng drank his tea happily while observing the layout of Jia Lian's entrance hall.

After patrolling the border for two years, he found that life in the capital was more comfortable.

Just as he was listing in his mind the key issues that needed to be discussed after he met Jia Lian later, he saw a young man in a dragon robe walking in with his head held high.

Wang Ziteng was stunned for a moment, and after he fixed his eyes, he was sure who it was, so he stood up and bowed, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to the Fourth Prince."

"Well, Lord Wang, please don't be polite."

The Fourth Prince pretended to help Wang Ziteng, then sat down on the main seat at the top, took out a covered bowl from the table, and poured himself half a bowl of tea.

It wasn't that he was thirsty, but he hadn't figured out how to complete the task assigned to him by Jia Lian.

Wang Ziteng was puzzled. Isn't this the Jia Mansion? Didn't he come to see Jia Lian? Where did this fourth prince come from?

After all, he was a scholar and strictly observed the etiquette of a subject. So until the Fourth Prince spoke, he just stood by.

When the Fourth Prince thought about it for a while and couldn't come up with a clue, he turned around and saw Wang Ziteng standing there in a daze, and immediately said, "Why are you standing there? Sit down."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Wang Ziteng then sat down.

The Fourth Prince curled his lips and felt that what he thought was indeed right. It was really too troublesome to deal with these people.

"Ahem, um, Lord Wang, right? I heard that you are going to join the cabinet as a regent?"

"Your Majesty has granted me the permission to join the cabinet. However, the court has not issued any official notice on this matter. How did Your Highness know about this?"

"Well, about this, I have my own way, so you don't need to ask."

Wang Ziteng smiled. He naturally guessed that it was Jia Lian who told the Fourth Prince.

He felt puzzled. He came to see Jia Lian, but Jia Lian did not show up. Instead, the Fourth Prince came out. What did this mean?

There must be something wrong when things are abnormal. Wang Ziteng is a man who has experienced many storms, so he did not ask rashly. He believed that the Fourth Prince would definitely tell him on his own initiative.

Sure enough, the Fourth Prince waited for a long time but saw no response from Wang Ziteng. He lost his patience and decided to get straight to the point.

"Do you know why I came here and why I came to see you?"

"I don't know this, Your Highness, please tell me clearly."

"It's like this, Jia Lian said that you will be in charge of government affairs soon, and you will definitely have a place in the court affairs in the future.

I came here today just to ask you to express your opinion."

"What attitude does Your Highness want me to express?"

"It's a choice between Prince Yun and my fifth brother."

"choose?"

Wang Ziteng blinked. If he understood correctly, the Fourth Prince wanted him to take sides?

Is it so direct?

Moreover, why the fifth prince? How old is he?

"Forgive me for being so slow and incapable of understanding your Highness's intention."

The Fourth Prince was a little unhappy. He felt that he had made his words so clear, how could Wang Ziteng not understand? Was he playing dumb?

"That's right. When Prince Yun and my fifth brother compete for the position of crown prince in the future, I hope that Lord Wang will support my fifth brother."

Wang Ziteng frowned. Although he had heard that the Fourth Prince was uneducated and unrestrained, he had never expected this to be the case.

Can I talk to him directly about this kind of topic?

They didn't even know each other, so how did it get to the point of "forming a clique for personal gain"?

"Your Highness, you are too kind. The position of crown prince is related to the foundation of the country. Whether it is Prince Yun or the Fifth Prince, it is all decided by His Majesty. How can a humble minister change it?"

"That's true... But doesn't my father sometimes have to listen to the opinions of ministers like you?"

The Fourth Prince sensed Wang Ziteng’s evasiveness and thought that Wang Ziteng had not participated in the Tiewangshan Incident and certainly did not know what the Third Prince had done, so he added: “Prince Yun appears to be humble and kind on the surface, but he is actually vicious and cunning.

In the Tiewangshan Incident, the Crown Prince had already been defeated, and my father had no intention of killing the Crown Prince. He simply ordered people to capture the Crown Prince and bring him back to be punished.

However, Prince Yun took the initiative to take on the important task of arresting the prince on the pretext of sharing the burden of his father and king, but secretly he used conspiracy and trickery to kill the prince outside Tiewang Mountain!

How can such a heartless, vicious and cruel person be worthy of being the crown prince of the Great Wei and the ruler of all people in the future?

Your Excellency Wang, you don't want the king you will serve in the future to be a vicious villain, right?"

The Fourth Prince almost gritted his teeth when he said this. In fact, if he hadn't witnessed it with his own eyes that day, he wouldn't have believed that his Third Brother would do such a thing!

As a result, in the days that followed, he wanted to rush to Prince Yun's mansion countless times to question and scold the Third Prince.

But I heard that Emperor Ningkang whipped the Third Prince so hard that night that the Third Prince has not been able to get out of bed yet, so he barely endured it.

The person who was speaking gritted his teeth, but the one who was listening did not react much.

Although I don't know the whole story of what happened that day, but since even the Fourth Prince said so, it seems that the Third Prince must have really killed his brother.

Wang Ziteng just sighed inwardly and didn't find it too strange.

If you open the history books, you will find many more things than this, more exaggerated and more sinister.

Otherwise, why do they say there are no relatives in heaven?

Wang Ziteng understood why the Fourth Prince was here and why he said these words. "This is a serious matter. Is there any evidence for what Your Highness said?"

"Why, you don't believe me, do you think I would lie to you?"

"No, no, no, I just think that since this matter involves Prince Yun's reputation, it is better to be cautious. Before the court has investigated the matter thoroughly and His Majesty has issued an order, Your Highness should be careful about what you say."

"you!"

The Fourth Prince slammed the tea table, glared at Wang Ziteng, and wanted to leave in anger.

Finally, he remembered that he still had a mission to complete, and he was too lazy to get angry with Wang Ziteng, so he sat down again and hummed, "Whether you believe it or not, what I said is true anyway.

My sister, Jia Lian and I all think that Prince Yun is not worthy of being the crown prince.

We have discussed and decided to work together to help my fifth brother ascend to the throne.

You are Jia Lian's wife's uncle, and your Wang family and Jia family are known as the four major families in the old capital. We don't treat you as an outsider.

Just give me a clear answer today, will you join us?"

Wang Ziteng suddenly found the voice harsh and felt very uncomfortable.

He really couldn't understand the Fourth Prince.

After hesitating for a moment, he stood up and walked to the door of the hall to look outside.

It was eerily quiet outside the hall. There was no one within ten steps, and even his two followers were nowhere to be found.

The entire front hall and courtyard were in complete silence, with only a few Jia family guards standing guard in the distance.

Wang Ziteng breathed a sigh of relief. He really thought that he had just escaped from one crisis, but he was immediately caught up in another one, and his life or death was in danger.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Wang Ziteng thought to himself.

Given the Fourth Prince's stupidity, he would definitely not make these arrangements. I think it was Jia Lian's doing to prevent the Fourth Prince's rebellious words from being heard by outsiders.

From this perspective, it must have been Jia Lian who arranged for the Fourth Prince to meet him, and what the Fourth Prince said about them working together to support the Fifth Prince in ascending the throne might not be untrue.

He began to think about Jia Lian's true intentions.

Let’s not talk about whether the story of the third prince killing his brother is true or not. Even if it is true, as long as Emperor Ning Kang does not punish and depose him, he is the only choice for the crown prince!

It's not just because the third prince is the eldest.

Since Emperor Ning Kang ascended the throne, the Crown Prince and the Third Prince have been fighting openly and secretly, and each has accumulated their own team.

In the eyes of all the officials in the court, the person who will sit on that position in the future will either be the crown prince or the third prince.

Now that the crown prince is dead, the third prince becomes the only candidate.

This was also the reason why Feng Sheng did not dare to accept the Tian family's complaint that day. He did not want to offend the third prince under such circumstances.

Now Jia Lian and others want to use the Fifth Prince, who is not even ten years old, to fight against the Third Prince. How difficult is that?

and many more.

I have only heard that Jia Lian and the Fourth Prince are close friends, but I have never heard of any connection between Jia Lian and the Fifth Prince.

The age difference between them also means that Jia Lian is unlikely to have any friendship with the Fifth Prince.

Why did Jia Lian take such a huge risk and abandon the third prince for the fifth prince?

Could it be that he wanted to be like Yi Yin and Huo Guang, supporting the young emperor and holding power alone?

Wang Ziteng shook his head.

Although Jia Lian seemed to be favored by Emperor Ning Kang, and even became the only duke of a foreign surname in the dynasty at a young age, he was still far from being like Yi Yin or Huo Guang!

The system of the Qing Dynasty also determined that it was unlikely that such a person would appear again.

Therefore, Jia Lian's choice is unreasonable, unless...

Wang Ziteng's gaze fell on the Fourth Prince who had an earnest look.

There was no sign of the Fourth Prince pretending to be anything. After thinking for a while, Wang Ziteng said slowly, "Your Highness, I already know what you mean.

However, this matter is of great importance and I cannot make up my mind at the moment. I ask Your Highness to give me some time to think about it."

Although he did not get a satisfactory answer, the fourth prince understood that it was good that the other party did not refuse. Just like he said, after all, it was a big deal.

If he really agreed to join them in doing great things without thinking, he would doubt whether the other party was really so honest. After all, he knew that there were many villains in the world, and there were not many people as pure and righteous as him and Jia Lian.

Now his mission has been completed. He has expressed the Fifth Prince's importance to Wang Ziteng on behalf of the Fifth Prince. Whether he can completely win over Wang Ziteng now depends on Jia Lian.

"Well, I won't force you. After you return to the capital, you can ask around and you'll know if I've lied to you.

I believe you will be able to make the right choice when the time comes. Don't let a villain steal the imperial artifact!"

"Yes, I will follow your instructions..."

"..."

After looking at each other in silence, the fourth prince stood up and said, "You sit here, I'll go out for a walk."

Seeing the Fourth Prince slipping away in embarrassment, Wang Ziteng hadn't had time to digest the shock the Fourth Prince brought him before he heard the Fourth Prince's angry voice at the door: "Where are the people? Where did they go? Well, it's just a conversation, and you all are lazy, right? Just wait and see how I'll deal with you later..."

Wang Ziteng's expression froze, and he rejected Jia Lian's guess that the person he really wanted to support was the Fourth Prince. (End of this chapter)